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Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

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Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#21

Post by _jal »

ReverseCold wrote: post #18
chimeracoder wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you are in the NYC area for example, the GPS just really struggles between all the buildings. What phone are you using? In a decade of living in Manhattan, I've never had any issue like this. The location services on my phone (Pixel 2 XL) and every Android phone I've ever used have been spot on.

Google and Apple do some tricks based on WiFi to fix GPS in dense urban areas. Raw gps is basically unusable in these areas.

I don't think too many Uber drivers are running their gigs on GlobalSats dangling from Arduinos. They tend to have phones.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#22

Post by inferiorhuman »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #16

I just wanted to drop a note to say I think Uber is doing a good job, all things considered. Many public transit companies have been around for decades and haven't figured out how to scale up to the kind of service Uber is providing. 4B rides in 2017 is pretty amazing. If I understand the math correctly, BART claims about 126 million rides (2015) and cost $906M (~$7 a ride, comparable to some uber pool fares)

> If I understand the math correctly, BART claims about 126 million rides (2015) and cost $906M (~$7 a ride, comparable to some uber pool fares)

Scaling a mobile app is trivial compared to running a transit company.

BART owns/maintains infrastructure (including an underwater tunnel) and vehicles, provides benefits (health, retirement, etc) to their drivers, and operates a multi-jurisdictional police force.

Uber meanwhile hired a couple of tech bros (paid largely in stock instead of actual currency), pays their drivers near minimum wage with no benefits (as they're not actually employees), and disregards as many laws as possible (so there's little-to-no cost to enter a new market). It's not surprising they've been able to scale. What's surprising is how expensive their service still is.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#23

Post by anon84598 »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #16

I just wanted to drop a note to say I think Uber is doing a good job, all things considered. Many public transit companies have been around for decades and haven't figured out how to scale up to the kind of service Uber is providing. 4B rides in 2017 is pretty amazing. If I understand the math correctly, BART claims about 126 million rides (2015) and cost $906M (~$7 a ride, comparable to some uber pool fares)

Just to totally nitpick your last point, it's worth noting that the BART cost probably includes the entire infrastructure maintenance cost whereas Uber essentially has infrastructure subsidized (i.e., they don't need to pay for maintenance of the roads their cars drive on etc.) so a true comparison of efficiency would result in Uber "costing" more than that.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#24

Post by mlthoughts2018 »

chrisabrams wrote: post #7

Based on my rides recently I have seen the quality of drivers plummet on both Uber and Lyft. I'd be much more willing to wait (and maybe even pay) for a higher quality driver. Having a driver who cannot follow a GPS and takes you in a circle 3-4 times around the airport or does not speak English well enough to understand your request to stop on the right instead of the left like the GPS shows can be quite frustrating…

I have the reverse service expectations.

I want absolutely cheap but non-shared point-to-point rides.

Beyond some very minimal, basic safety and competency as a driver, I stop caring and just want it to be as cheap as possible.

If I could indicate that I’ll happily be paired with a low rating driver if it is cheaper, I would.

And it sounds like adding this functionality could satisfy both of our use cases too!

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#25

Post by chrisabrams »

mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #24
chrisabrams wrote: post #7

Based on my rides recently I have seen the quality of drivers plummet on both Uber and Lyft. I'd be much more willing to wait (and maybe even pay) for a higher quality driver. Having a driver who cannot follow a GPS and takes you in a circle 3-4 times around the airport or does not speak English well enough to understand your request to stop on the right instead of the left like the GPS shows can be quite frustrating…

I have the reverse service expectations. I want absolutely cheap but non-shared point-to-point rides. Beyond some very minimal, basic safety and competency as a driver, I stop caring and just want it to be as cheap as possible. If I could indicate that I’ll happily be paired with a low rating driver if it is cheaper, I would. And it sounds like adding this functionality could satisfy both of our use cases too!

I would argue that your desired use case is a closer reality as it just requires adding a new option with lower score or similar. Increasing the quality is not as simple.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#26

Post by chrisabrams »

jessriedel wrote: post #11
chrisabrams wrote: post #7

Based on my rides recently I have seen the quality of drivers plummet on both Uber and Lyft. I'd be much more willing to wait (and maybe even pay) for a higher quality driver. Having a driver who cannot follow a GPS and takes you in a circle 3-4 times around the airport or does not speak English well enough to understand your request to stop on the right instead of the left like the GPS shows can be quite frustrating…

I have had the opposite anecdotal experience. Things have stayed the same or gotten better.

Where are located out of curiosity?

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#27

Post by wuunderbar »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #22
maerF0x0 wrote: post #16

I just wanted to drop a note to say I think Uber is doing a good job, all things considered. Many public transit companies have been around for decades and haven't figured out how to scale up to the kind of service Uber is providing. 4B rides in 2017 is pretty amazing. If I understand the math correctly, BART claims about 126 million rides (2015) and cost $906M (~$7 a ride, comparable to some uber pool fares)

> If I understand the math correctly, BART claims about 126 million rides (2015) and cost $906M (~$7 a ride, comparable to some uber pool fares) Scaling a mobile app is trivial compared to running a transit company. BART owns/maintains infrastructure (including an underwater tunnel) and vehicles, provides benefits (health, retirement, etc) to their drivers, and operates a multi-jurisdictional police force. Uber meanw…

> tech bros

What's your point with this?

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#28

Post by tvanantwerp »

I've frequently used Uber Pool, and have noticed that it's started forcing a waiting period of a minute to "find the best match". I've also noticed that I'm getting matched with drivers further and further away from me, frequently waiting up to ten minutes. The matching algorithms sure don't seem improved, so maybe they're just covering up a decreasing number of drivers in my area.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#29

Post by chimeracoder »

ReverseCold wrote: post #18
chimeracoder wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you are in the NYC area for example, the GPS just really struggles between all the buildings. What phone are you using? In a decade of living in Manhattan, I've never had any issue like this. The location services on my phone (Pixel 2 XL) and every Android phone I've ever used have been spot on.

Google and Apple do some tricks based on WiFi to fix GPS in dense urban areas. Raw gps is basically unusable in these areas.

> Google and Apple do some tricks based on WiFi to fix GPS in dense urban areas. Raw gps is basically unusable in these areas.

Location Services doesn't just use raw GPS, no, but that's what most drivers (and passengers) are using.

In any case, for several years, I only used the device GPS (instead of the full location services), and I never had any issues like what OP is describing.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#30

Post by jessriedel »

chrisabrams wrote: post #26
jessriedel wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had the opposite anecdotal experience. Things have stayed the same or gotten better.

Where are located out of curiosity?

Mostly Toronto, plus some Santa Barbara lately.
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